Media display devices are employed to stream a variety of media content (e.g., TV, movies, live broadcasts, personal video, etc.) provided via a network to a display device. Media display devices include a variety of connected display devices, such as smart phones, set top boxes, or connected television devices. The casting devices and smart television devices are often controlled via remote control interfaces that can be displayed directly on the media display devices or separately on a second screen mobile device (e.g., a tablet computer, laptop, or mobile phone). A user can browse through a list of content items and search for media content on remote control interfaces displayed on the media display devices or the second screen mobile devices.
Compared with conventional television devices and traditional remote controls, a typical remote control interface for a media streaming device often provides a comprehensive but complicated user experience that can be overwhelming and hard for users to follow. For example, such a remote control interface might require a user to navigate multiple menus and/or type on an awkward keyboard (virtual or physical) to reach a destination related to desired media content, whether that is a web site or a media steaming service. Even worse, when a user does not have a particular program or channel in mind to watch, typical remote control interfaces for media streaming devices offer little user guidance and also do not facilitate an easy and convenient behavior for browsing available content (e.g., similar to: channel surfing” using a conventional remote control and television device. In addition, when a second screen mobile device (such as a smart phone) or another remote control device is used to control display of media content via a remote control interface, the resulting user experience is generally less intuitive than the first screen experience offered by conventional television devices and remote controls due in part to the inherent complexity of such second screen mobile devices.
Providing further complexity, content preview and secondary information (e.g., related news feeds and images) that can be provided on a remote control interface for a media streaming device can distract from content being displayed on a primary display regardless of whether that additional information is displayed on a second screen device (such as a smart phone) or alongside media content on the primary display.
Therefore, there is a need for convenient and intuitive remote control interfaces for controlling content displayed via casting devices, media streaming and smart television devices.